


Dealmaking

by Barkour



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: Canon - Manga, Canon Character of Color, Gen, POV Character of Color
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-05
Updated: 2010-05-05
Packaged: 2017-10-09 08:11:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/84921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Barkour/pseuds/Barkour
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Greed said, "Why be king of one tiny country—" "—when you can rule the world entire," said Ling. "Yes, I've heard this. But Xing is not so tiny as you think."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dealmaking

**Author's Note:**

> This is sort of sledgehammered in before chapter 97.

Trapped there in the privacy of his own head, Ling said, _When we return to Xing—_

But his head was not so private anymore.

"Yeah, yeah," said Greed. "You'll have me parade in front of your pops and then he'll make us king. That's small beans, brat, I told you."

Ling tapped his finger against his cheek and at last said, _Small beans?_

"Modern slang," said Greed. He grinned, Ling thought, at his own mastery of Amestrian linguistic trends. "It means you gotta look at the bigger picture. Why be king of one tiny country—"

_—when you can rule the world entire,_ said Ling. _Yes, I've heard this. But Xing is not so tiny as you think._

Greed said nothing, but his interest, so easily struck, coiled around Ling. Ling grinned back at that shaded demon's skull which peered out at him through the roaring cascade of souls, now so thick in Ling's flesh.

_There are fifty clans in Xing,_ said Ling, _some of them very small, some of them quite large. My own clan, the Yao clan, is not the most powerful clan, but we are prosperous. And we're united, which is more than the Han clan can claim._

Greed's interest wound tighter about him, the desire for more a tendril creeping through him.

"The Han clan, huh," said Greed.

_Traditionally a rival to the Yao clan,_ said Ling, as if it were of no matter to him, personally. _Of course, with the emperor now to guide us onto the true path and keep us from killing each other, we mostly make snide comments and steal livestock. Or send assassins._

"That sounds like one hell of a Saturday night," said Greed.

_Naturally I have never stolen another clan's cattle for my own amusement,_ said Ling.

"Naw," said Greed. "You're too upright for that."

They grinned at each other, Ling to Greed's inward reflection, Greed to the night sky spreading wide and open before them. If he strained, Ling could catch a glimpse of the sky through Greed's eyes, a flash of deep darkness, the white spray of stars against it.

"How much land you got there in Xing?" said Greed.

_My clan controls the western half of the Chi Lanhua valley,_ said Ling, _near the great river which flows from the emperor's palace. The Han control the east. All together the valley is perhaps the size of..._

He thought of the maps he'd studied in the desert as they crossed from Xing to Amestris, Fuu and Lanfan at his side; then he thought simply of Fuu, and of Lanfan, her arm a length of steel. How far he'd brought them, only to leave them.

Greed prodded at him, a disorienting sort of dragging at Ling's consciousness, like a cat pulling at a string.

"The Chee Lanhaa valley," he prompted, and Ling laughed, the delight startling.

"Shut up," said Greed, amiable. "You know, your Amestrian could use a little work."

_No, my Amestrian is pretty good,_ said Ling. _But I can help you with your Xingese if you promise to never again say Chee Lanhaa._

"I could just make you help me," said Greed. That tendril of Greed's interest wound within and about Ling tightened, compressing like a vise or a thick-bellied serpent, the strangling kind which lived in the southernmost provinces of Xing. Perhaps Greed would not appreciate the comparison; perhaps he would.

_You could, I think,_ said Ling, _but you won't._

For a time Greed was silent. He tightened again, encircling Ling, then as if he had lost all interest he let him go.

"All right," said Greed. "Deal's a deal and you got one. You teach me Shingese and I promise I won't screw up your hometown's name again."

_Xingese,_ said Ling.

"Right, Shingese," said Greed.

Ling hooted.

"You're lucky I'm not that sensitive a guy," said Greed.

_Yes, very fortunate,_ Ling agreed. _I can laugh at you all I want._

"Hey, hey, buddy," said Greed. "Even an easygoing kind of fella's got limits."

_Then I shall try to limit my abuse,_ said Ling.

Another long silence then, as Greed looked up, up to the sky and the stars within it, and Ling strained in the darkness to see.

"That valley of yours," said Greed. "How big did you say it was?"

Ling thought again of the sand-strewn maps, of Fuu drawing out the path from Xing to the great ruins to Amestris, and of Lanfan watching in stillness over his shoulder, her face ever hidden.

_Two of your Rush Valleys,_ said Ling. _Perhaps three._

Greed whistled, a long, fluttering note cut off by his teeth. "And you got the western half?"

_When I'm emperor,_ said Ling, _I will have all of it. The Chi Lanhua valley, the great river, everything that resides within Xing is the emperor's. And Xing is a vast country, much bigger than your Amestris. Xing could swallow Amestris and never know it._

He concentrated on the maps: the dark lines which marked the western borders of Xing, the long stretch of the desert, and so small on the far side of the barren waste, Amestris and her neighboring nations. Perhaps if Greed could see for himself—

"All those people," said Greed. "Your gang. They depend on you."

Ling said, _All the clans are beholden to the emperor._

Greed rolled his shoulder, dismissive. "Your clan," he said. "What happens to them if you don't go back?"

_I am my mother's only child,_ said Ling, _and the emperor's twelfth son. The seventh prince is of the Han clan; so is the third princess. If I don't return..._

The thought was a blow, a strike to the heart that he felt, but Greed could not.

_If I do not return,_ said Ling, _the Yao clan will survive._

"Big difference between surviving and living," said Greed.

_It's not likely they would prosper,_ said Ling.

Greed shifted. Through his eyes Ling glimpsed: trees, black against the sky, and in the distance the lights of a city, shining into the dark. Greed's soul's face stared down at Ling out of the shifting tapestry of so many other souls, twining endlessly around each other, as restless as Greed. Greed's eyes narrowed.

"Hey, little prince," he said. "I got an idea. You wanna hear it?"

_I have some free time,_ said Ling.

Greed grinned, his eyes slitting, his fangs flashing. He said, "How about after we snatch the world out of Father's mouth, we head back to your place. Kick those Han runts in their teeth. What d'you say?"

For a moment: nothing. But perhaps it was not so surprising after all. Ling remembered that strange reptilian man, that chimera in the tunnels deep beneath Central City, whose chest Greed had speared, whose blood he'd spilled. The last of Greed's own clan.

_I say that's a very generous offer,_ said Ling.

"Don't misunderstand me," Greed told him. "What's yours is _mine_, and I protect what's mine."

_Then I think,_ said Ling, _we understand each other very well._

Greed smiled, as if he were amused, as if Ling had surprised him.

"So, is it a deal or not?" said Greed.

_A deal,_ said Ling, _my greedy friend._

"Wanna shake on it?" said Greed, sly.

Ling echoed Greed's long, sharp smile.

_Your word's enough,_ he said, _so long as you keep it._

"I always keep my word," said Greed, not at all offended. "I make it a matter of principle."

_So do I,_ said Ling.

"There you go," said Greed, "partner. We're just like two peas in a pod, you and me. That's slang," he added. "It means we're the same or just about."

_Yes,_ said Ling, _we have peas in Xing, too._

"That's a compliment, by the way," said Greed.

_You're very humble,_ said Ling, and something like unease pricked at him. _But I'm not sure I'd like to take that as a compliment from you. No offense intended, friend._

"You'll have to try harder to cut my skin," said Greed, amused. "You're still caught up in your human fantasies of nobility and humility. Don't worry. We'll work on that."

_I'm afraid you'll have to try harder,_ said Ling.

"Maybe," said Greed, his easy smile a masked blade, "and maybe not."


End file.
